Long Distance Distress

Tired and exhausted, starvation writ large on their withering young faces

M L Kotru

Srinagar, April 5, 2020, 12:00 AMApril 4, 2020, 10:18 PM

UPDATED: April 4, 2020, 10:18 PM

File Pic: Habib Naqash/GK

What
exactly was it that prompted Prime Minister Modi to give just a four-hour
notice for the lockdown? If the requirement was to keep the population indoors,
strictly enforcing “social distancing” – how unfamiliar the word had seemed
when it was first mentioned in his lock-out release. Abjectly it failed lakhs
of Indians, mostly young daily wagers, jostling to get away from their work to
homes, hundreds of kilometres away, walking and sleeping in heat and in rains,
in the wide-open on the deserted road surfaces, the road their bed and the sky
above their roof. In broad daylight and in the darkness of the nights, very
often dong the only thing they just then knew or cared for, finding their way
homes. At least one died after the 200 km mark, the other, a daring but
frustrated youth opted to break the orthopaedic cast on his leg, a burden which
he cast away at the risk of jeopardising his recovery, just then a needless
burden, an extra weight to carry. There was not much money on the overwhelming
majority of these mostly young Indians, their only goal, to reach home however
uninviting a prospect to the city-bred. The main reason for their having little
money on them was the timing chosen by Mr. Modi to enforce his writ. The
Lakshman Rekha, a four-hour gap between the announcement of the lockdown and
its enforcement didn’t give them the opportunity to collect their dues from
their employers. The highest priority obviously was to somehow leave their
places of work before day-break. The other priority was to escape the local
police before it spread its net on the highways. One of the earliest few died
before arriving at their home base. That’s the death that was noticed. Quite
likely, someone of the other who might have not made it. It could have been
handled better, the flight by lakhs of young daily wagers, the largest manually
induced peace time distress migration in independent India, Modi had not
indicated the severity of the top-down nationwide lockdown in his telecast only
a couple of days earlier. There was no mention of dislocation on such a massive
scale not indicated any relief measures for the daily wagers, in fact, Mr. Modi
was silent on the issue of the necessary relief measures. Uncertainty about the
future of the lakhs who set out, migrating from workplaces in distant states to
the elusive security of their homes, of which they were the breadwinners. The
return to unemployment in confusion and insecurity left millions of daily wage
earners virtually in suspended animation; it was bound to fail. With doomsday
predictions, no work and no guarantee from the government, the migrant laborers
basically sought the security of their distant homes. They had no option but to
travel any way they could, including, as they literally did, on foot to go
home. It didn’t do my ego, my Indianness any good to see foreign TV networks
including CNN and BBC, recording the painful trudge home of thousands of
laborers, all of their young dreams in their eyes melting away for good. One of
the networks shared how homebound youths from Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar
Pradesh spending their time snoozing on low lying branches of big roadside
trees. Tired and exhausted, starvation writ large on their withering young
faces, thin worldly possessions reduced to manageable overhead packs. A
heart-breaking story, yet one which must cause fresh thinking among the
political establishment, Mr. Modi, his BJP and all other political parties
included. There is an urgent need to go beyond personality and charm offenses.
Both the government and the opposition need to move beyond “Modiji did this”,
“only Modiji could do this”; instead this arena of deliberation needs
systematic expansion. Before the government and the opposition, between the
centre and the states, between experts and the administration and even between
the union and the state administrations. Unless this is done no amount of
grandstanding and no number of disaster management laws can help us
democratically address situations of crisis. We must also avoid the knee-jerk
reaction of creating “funds”. “The PM cares” fund announcement five days ago
severely harks of petty one-upmanship. Prime Ministers are expected to care and
that is why he is elected to that chair. Since the current crisis is a public
health crisis, the politics around it should be about how much we spend on
public health through regular budgets. The issue is pulling money into building
long-term and broad range testing facilities across the country.

To
conclude, for the present, the massive exodus of casual labour from the metros
that is being witnessed across the country is now beginning to lead to labour
shortages, not only in the transportation sector but across the supply chain.
These labour shortages will lead to disruption not only in the production of
essential goods but in the supply of essential and non-essential items as well.
At the moment it looks unlikely to return to normal immediately after the
lockdown is lifted.

There
are reports already of erratic supplies of food and essentials causing panic
and confusion in Goa, for instance. It is imperative for the government to formulate
protocols to enable facilities to start production as soon as possible, and for
ensuring the uninterrupted supply of essential goods.

To
conclude on a somewhat different note, it is not adequate consolation that
India is not alone in experiencing this eerier quiet characterized by its
current lockdown – the lockdown of the idea of public domain.

This site uses cookies to deliver our services and to show you relevant news and ads. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Cookie Policy, Privacy Policy, and our Terms of Service.That's FinePrivacy policy